Dying to talk to you
A hospice is encouraging people to talk about their death.
People should open up about their wishes towards the end of their lives, including where they want to die and their funeral plans with loved ones, according to the Hospice of St Francis, in Berkhamsted.
As part of the national Dying Matters Awareness Week, which started on Monday, the hospice has joined 7,000 strong coalition of organisations encouraging people to talk about death.
Dr Ros Taylor, director of the hospice, said: "In this life things often go better if you think about them, talk about them, and plan them. We do this for weddings, celebrations and births - so why not for serious illness and death?
"Illness often takes us by surprise but I know that making your wishes known ahead of time will help your care go the way you want it. It isn't easy but it's really important."
Jane Kendell, whose husband Chris is a patient at the hospice, added: "When you don't know someone is going to die, it's very sudden and you don't get the opportunity to discuss, to do things together, to laugh, to cry, or to do any of those normal things together. When someone is dying through an illness and you have the time and can go through those kind of emotions.
"I think all of those things can be very positive, so long as you can all be very honest with yourselves."
Research commissioned by the Dying Matters Coalition shows less than a third of people have discussed their wishes around dying and only 4 per cent have written advance care plans. Consequently, despite 70 per cent of us saying that we would like to die at home, currently 60 per cent die in hospitals.
The Dying Matters Coalition was set up by the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC), to raise awareness and provide the support and information needed to have these conversations with loved ones.
It aims to help make dying well a natural part of a good life and through this help change attitudes and behaviours towards dying, death and bereavement
For more information about the topic or the hospice, log on to www.stfrancis.org.uk.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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